Recently, Nepal’s government was toppled after protests branded abroad as “spontaneous youth movements.” In reality, foreign powers had prepared for years to channel popular anger into a campaign punishing a government that signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with China.
This shows the modern “Colour Revolution” model: outside actors cannot manufacture unrest from thin air, but they can weaponise existing discontent through funding, media control, and digital organisation. For Irish workers, the lesson is urgent – these same mechanisms constrain our sovereignty today.
Nepal: Real Grievances, Foreign Direction
The operation followed Victoria Nuland’s 2024 visit to Kathmandu, after which Western funding into Nepal’s NGO sector soared. USAID poured in nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars, while Soros-linked foundations added hundreds of millions.
Organisations like Hami Nepal, once earthquake relief charities, were remade into mobilisation hubs: slick social media campaigns, Discord networks of thousands, encrypted communications. This infrastructure was activated immediately when Prime Minister Oli restricted social media platforms, sparking nationwide protests.
Nepalese frustration was genuine: corruption, inequality, and unemployment had fuelled deep resentment. Foreign intervention succeeded because it redirected this anger towards halting cooperation with China and disrupting emerging India–China diplomacy.
A European Pattern
This approach has already been applied in Europe in recent years. In Moldova, Western-based ballots swung elections toward pro-EU candidates, while Russian-based citizens were excluded. In Georgia, Protests erupted against NGO transparency laws, but failed because grievances were too shallow to sustain mobilisation, while in Slovakia, Prime Minister Fico was shot amid foreign-backed polarisation over his independent foreign policy.
The method is consistent: embed NGO networks, prepare digital infrastructure, wait for grievances to peak, then channel unrest into outcomes serving Western strategic aims.
Ireland’s Vulnerabilities
Ireland is no exception. Our NGO sector receives millions annually from EU and foreign sources. Programmes presented as “civic participation” often push integration, NATO alignment, and neoliberal policy, while sidelining neutrality, public ownership, and workers’ interests.
As essential services like housing and welfare are outsourced to NGOs, government capacity erodes, leaving Irish social policy tied to the priorities of foreign funders.
Lessons from Nepal
Nepal’s left parties failed to resist this manipulation. Once militant, they had become hollow parliamentary machines. Believing electoral success alone was enough, they neglected to build independent organisations capable of defending against foreign penetration. NGOs filled the vacuum, exploiting popular grievances.
As Stalin warned: “Advance towards socialism cannot but cause the exploiting elements to resist the advance, and the resistance of the exploiters cannot but lead to the inevitable sharpening of the class struggle.”Nepal’s leadership ignored this truth, failing to grasp that imperialist interference is inevitable whenever governments attempt independent development.
What It Means for Irish Workers
The same pressures already shape Irish life. EU fiscal rules block state-led development. NATO-linked “structured cooperation” drags Ireland into militarisation. Housing crises, health cuts, and wage stagnation are enforced through the same global system that toppled Nepal’s government.Foreign interference does not invent discontent – it hijacks it. Unless workers organise politically and economically on an independent basis, our anger will be directed toward ends that strengthen, not weaken, imperial control.
The Workers’ Party of Ireland calls for:
1. NGO transparency: All organisations must publish funding sources, particularly EU and foreign government money.
2. Defend neutrality: Reject EU military integration and NATO alignment.
3. Strengthen public services: Essential services must be delivered publicly, not outsourced to foreign-funded NGOs.
4. Prioritise class politics: Put housing, healthcare, and wages before imported cultural divisions.
5. International solidarity: Support all nations resisting imperialist interference.
Nepal’s upheaval demonstrates how imperial powers exploit real grievances to steer nations away from independent policies. For Ireland, the choice is clear: accept continued subordination to foreign capital, or build political and economic independence rooted in working-class power.
The struggle for Irish sovereignty and the struggle for workers’ rights are inseparable. Recognising the forces arrayed against us is the first step toward victory.